Narendra Modi's tough stance on Pakistan heartens party faithful

Foreign secretary Sujatha Singh was to fly to Islamabad on 25 August to hold talks with her Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Chaudhry. This could have marked a resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan nearly two years after the sluggish peace dialogue were stalled due to skirmishes along the LoC. Narendra Modi’s big and bold decision to call off this initiative came as a huge surprise, both for Pakistan and the Hurriyat. Separatist Shabbir Shah who was one of those who met Pakistani high commissioner Abdul Basit almost appeared at a loss, contending that such meetings were commonplace during both the Manmohan Singh and the Vajpayee government. [caption id=“attachment_1670265” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Modi and Nawaz Sharif: PIB[/caption] The government’s descision makes three big statements in one. It draws new ground rules for holding peace negotiations with Pakistan, tells Hurriyat and their patrons that it can’t be business as usual under the new regime in Delhi; and thirdly, makes clear that the policies followed by Vajpayee government are not sacrosanct for the Modi government. The composition of the Cabinet Committee on Security, the profile of the NSA (another participant in the CCS) and the organisational structure in the BJP is completely different than what was there ten years ago. The latest decision is indicative of the generational change in the organisational structure in the BJP and the government . “BJP welcomes the decision on cancellation of talks. Though India wants good relations with its neighbours, it will not tolerate any interference in its internal affairs by anyone. Modi had taken the initiative of inviting Sharif at his swearing-in and wanted good ties with them, but Pakistan has not kept its promise of not interfering in India’s internal matters. It also continued with cease fire violations, something totally unacceptable to us”, BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said. “This is what the BJP cadre expected from Modiji. This is what a Swabhimani Bharat expected from him and he has lived to our expectations. The popular feed back on this decision is heartening”, another BJP leader said. Along with the announcement of cancellation of foreign secretary’s visit to Islamabad for talks came a stern statement from Defence Minister Arun Jaitley: “Our jawans are fully prepared to respond to any ceasefire violations by Pakistan." “Indian foreign secretary had conveyed to the Pakistan high commissioner in clear and unambiguous terms, that Pakistan’s continued efforts to interfere in India’s internal affairs were unacceptable,” foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said, adding that Sujata Singh told Pak envoy Basit that Pakistan had to choose between “India or separatists” for talks. “They (Pakistan high commission) were told that the meeting (of separatists) was unacceptable to us but they chose to go ahead with it … Under the circumstances, there is no use of sending the foreign secretary to Islamabad,” Akbaruddin said. His contention was that Pak envoy’s invitation with “so-called” separatist leaders undermined a constructive diplomatic engagement initiated by Prime Minister Modi. Modi surprised the world and his own saffron supporters by inviting Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff along with other leaders of SARC nations. But then that was hailed as an out of box peace initiative. His government didn’t make any tough sounding statement against Pakistan, when there had been consistent ceasefire violations on the LoC from the other side. This had made BJP supporters and Modi sympathisers defensive. His surprisingly strong decision, without dropping any prior hints, has put his party’s rank and file on a certain aggressive mode. There was also a sense of jubilation that their leader had walked the talk. Incidentally, Modi has kept his outreach to Jammu and Kashmir on priority. He has visited the twice within three months of his taking over the reins, a record for any Prime Minister. Elections in Jammu and Kashmir is due in next few months. It could be held simultaneously with Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharastra or a little later, depending on how the Election Commission and security agencies assess the situation. Modi is not going to these elections as a peacenik but with the image of a tough decisive leader, an image that catapulted him to power at the centre.